Not applicable.
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety shields, and particularly safety shield assemblies that may be employed with electrical apparatuses which plug directly into a wall receptacle. The purpose of the safety shield assembly is to preclude the chance of the fingers, particulars the fingers of an infant, contacting the electrical blades while they are still received in mating electrical sockets, and therefore have household voltage imposed between the electrical blades.
2. Related Art
There is a growing cause for concern for the safety of infants and young children. Particularly, the concern is for children who have not yet reached the age at which they may be reasoned with and instructed as to the dangers of household electricity. Such children may typically range in age from that of a toddler who may yet only be crawlingxe2x80x94typically, 7 to 15 months of agexe2x80x94up to pre-school aged children who have yet to learn discipline, or have yet to reach the age at which they may be spoken to about the dangers of certain actions which they might undertake.
Almost any home where any such children live or are expected to visit, will possibly have covers placed over any unused wall receptacles so as to preclude prying fingers from entering into the wall receptacles and thereby receiving an electrical shock. Moreover, many small children have a tendency to want to stick small toys, or parts of toys, into wall receptacles. All such actions are, of course, fraught with danger.
A particular danger exists in children""s bedrooms, where they may stay for many hours in a relatively unsupervised condition. This is not to say that such children are not monitored; indeed, the present invention finds particular usefulness in association with wall-mounted transformers that are used for monitor transmitters which are placed in an infant""s bedroom. Such monitor transmitters are electrically powered, and typically include at least a microphone, so that they transmit any sounds that the infant will make to a receiver which is placed in another room. That other room may, of course, be the kitchen, living room, the parent""s bedroom, or the like, often within a range of 5 to 30 meters away from the monitor in the infant""s bedroom.
The manufacturers of such monitors have gone to great lengths to assure that the operation of the monitor is safe. That is, they have gone to great lengths to ensure that the monitor operates at a low voltage and is rugged so that, if dropped, it is not likely to break. Even so, additional precautions are taken so that, in any event, the voltage at which the monitor operates is less than 25 voltsxe2x80x94typically, 3 to 12 volts.
However, in order to achieve the low voltage power supply to the monitor, a wall-mounted transformer is required unless the monitor is battery-poweredxe2x80x94which is very expensive to operate. Thus, there still exists a danger.
Specifically, particularly with children who are able to get into and out of bed on their own accord, but who still are not of an age where they understand the dangers of household electricity, such children have sufficient strength in their hands and arms to remove a wall-mounted transformer from the wall receptacle into which it has been plugged. However, because the co-operation between the electrical blades on the transformer and the electrical sockets into which the blades have been placed may be quite tight, there may be some considerable effort to withdraw the transformer away from the wall socket. Even adults find that some considerable effort may be required.
To get better leverage, the tendency is to place the fingers as close as possible to the source of resistance to motion. That is, the fingers may be wrapped around the edges of the wall-mounted transformer.
Thus, there is a risk that the fingers will contact the electrical blades as they are being withdrawn from the mating sockets of the wall receptacle. Until such time as the blades are nearly fully withdrawn from the wall receptacle, they remain xe2x80x9clivexe2x80x9d. That is, household voltagexe2x80x94in North America, nominally 110 to 130 voltsxe2x80x94is imposed across the electrical blades. If those electrical blades are contacted, there is a risk of electrical shock. If both are contacted, such as by inserting a finger between the electrical blades, then electrical shock is certain if the blades are still live.
The present invention applies to an electrical apparatus which plugs directly into a wall receptacle. The particular example discussed above is a wall-mounted transformer. However, any other kind of apparatus which plugs into a wall receptacle may also be applicable for employment of the safety shield assembly of the present invention. For example, in another embodiment presented below, a supplementary lighting device (such as a night light) is described. Supplementary lighting devices such as night lights are used throughout households, and particularly in children""s bedrooms if they are afraid of darkness. Recently, electroluminescent supplementary lighting devices have become popular for their long life and cool light.
Other similar devices such as electric room air fresheners may include the safety shield assembly of the present invention. Further, even electrical plugs at the end of electrical cords for any electrical apparatus or device, or at the ends of extension cords, may be provided in the future having a planar face and a thickness sufficient to accommodate the safety shield assembly of the present invention, as described hereafter.
As can be seen from the description above, there exists a need for a safety apparatus to prevent electrical shock when removing or otherwise handling an electrical apparatus plugged into a wall receptacle. Therefore, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a safety shield assembly for an electrical apparatus which plugs directly into a wall receptacle, wherein the electrical apparatus has at least a pair of electrical blades for insertion into a pair of mating electrical sockets. The electrical apparatus includes a substantially planar face surrounding the electrical blades, from which substantially planar face the electrical blades extend outwardly.
The area of the substantially planar face of the electrical apparatus is sufficient to cover the region of a wall receptacle where the electrical sockets are placed.
Also, the region of the wall receptacle where the electrical sockets are placed is substantially planar, so as to be contiguous to the substantially planar face of the electrical apparatus when the electrical blades thereof are fully inserted into the mating electrical sockets.
The safety shield assembly may comprise a bellows-like structure having convoluted and compressible walls, and a recess or cavity in the substantially planar face of the electrical apparatus.
The bellows-like structure is made from an electrically insulative material, and is compressible along the walls thereof to a first, compressed height.
The bellows-like structure is preferably spaced away from and entirely surrounds the outwardly extending electrical blades.
Also, the recess or cavity is spaced away from and entirely surrounds the outwardly extending electrical blades, and has a depth which is at least as great as the first, compressed height of the bellows-like structure, and a width at least as great as the thickness of the walls of the bellows-like structure from the outside to the inside thereof, when the bellows-like structure is in its compressed state.
One end of the walls of the bellows-like structure is secured in the recess, so that the bellows-like structure extends outwardly therefrom.
The height of the walls of the bellows-like structure above the substantially planar face of the electrical apparatus, when the bellows-like structure is in its uncompressed state, is such that 50% to 100% of the length of the shortest of the at least two electrical blades is covered by the bellows-like structure.
The material of the bellows-like structure may be chosen from the group which consists of rubber, vinyl, polyvinylchloride, polyurethane, and mixtures, polymers, co-polymers, and derivatives thereof.
The bellows-like structure and the recess may each be rectangular or circular in shape. However, they might each also be other similar shapes, such as ellipses, squares, etc. Indeed, a common configuration of the bellows-like structure and the groove is that each is square.
Typically, the walls of the bellows-like structure are pleated, and comprise from 2 to 6 pairs of folds.
It is common for the uncompressed height of the walls of the bellows-like structure above the substantially planar face of the electrical apparatus to be in the range of 70% to 85% of the length of the shortest of the at least two electrical blades.
As discussed above, a typical electrical apparatus may be a wall-mounted transformer for transforming household voltage to below 25 volts or a supplementary lighting device such as a night light.